Charged moves allow for some serious damage to be dealt to any opposing Pokémon, but not all charged moves are made the same, having several differences in damage, DPS (Damage Per Second), type, and casting time.
One of the major differences come in their energy usage however, as Charge Moves can come in three varieties, requiring either 33, 50, or 100 energy, and being shown as 3, 2, or 1 bars. The differences in each move, with each of its respective attributes, in the movepools of each Pokemon can take up entire articles on their own, but here we will take a step back and examine the general advantages in the two different metas, the Gym battling and Raid Metas, when it comes to using the respective bars.
A column in the following table (Common Usage) can be controversial, but our observations show that Raiders very rarely dodge due to the infamous dodge glitch. There for, higher bar moves have advantage in dealing out more damage and being less risky than their lower bar brethren.
| Number of Bars | Energy Usage per Attack | Common Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Single-Bar | 100 | Gyms |
| Two-Bar | 50 | Gyms/Raids |
| Three-Bar | 33 | Raids |
Single Bar
Single Bar Charges moves are the most powerful single attacks in Pokémon Go, allowing for a heavy amount of damage to be dealt, as well as even being able to boost some Pokémon to additional useful roles, despite lacking STAB.
Take Groudon, its stats are so good, it can be adequately used as a Grass attacker since it has access to Solar Beam, the single most powerful move in the game with 180 damage. It lends itself well in raids, where in some cases you will only ever be able to fire off the equivalent of a single bar.
However, this leads it to be underused as much in gyms, where battles will usually be over before a single bar can be charged, and where a two or three bar can finish the job much quicker.
Two-Bar
Two Bar moves are some of the most used in both aspects of the meta, where they can be charged relatively quickly to one bar and end a gym battle quickly, while still dealing quite a bit of damage to a raid boss before the Pokémon faints.
Moves like Outrage Dragon (110 damage a bar) and the recent addition Frenzy Plant Grass (100 damage a bar) define this class, being some of the best choices in their typing, and allowing them to outbeat their theoretically higher damage and higher DPS counterparts, Draco Meteor and Solar Beam, respectively.
Three-Bar
Three Bar moves are the quickest in Pokémon Go, and best suited for gym battling as despite their speed, they generally do not have the damage output needed to make them contenders for raids. There are exceptions to this, as with everything stated in this general article. For example Sceptile was boosted to prominence due to its usage of Leaf Blade Grass (70 damage a bar) as well as the fast charging Fury Cutter, allowing it to slice through defending Pokemon.
Not to mention Dragon Claw and X Scissor are some of the best moves in their typing, being quick to cast and decent in damage. In general though, the ability to land a few quick moves and then follow up with a, generally, speedy high damage charge move makes this the best anti-gym bar setup.
